Things were swell until carbon fibre came out. No durability and super high cost. When I see a $10K rig on the trail, I think, Meh...
I also crash a lot and still tend to keep my bikes at least seven years. That lifestyle is not for carbon anything. Avoid custom frames, avoid carbon, then what you have left is still affordable and reliable with the exception of decent suspension products. Add in all the unsold bikes from 2013, 2014 that are heavily discounted and it is not so bad out there shopping.
Why my car tires cost almost as much as mountain bike tires, that I'll never understand. Surely the cost of materials is not negligible.

I have a rear wheel i'd like to upgrade the hub to a NS, on top of the cost of the hub, what does that go for? Do I need new spokes? What is the labour cost to build and tension a wheel? I have no idea....thanks.